Rating: 
Summary: Do not Buy this for the "Photo Secrets"
Review: Based on the reviews I read here, and the term "photo secrets" in the book's title, I expected this book to contain spectacular photographs and step by step instructions on how to reproduce them. But it's basically just a guidebook to Northern California, with only a few comments on spots that might be good places to snap pictures. What I'm most upset about is that the pictures ARE NOT ANY GOOD. They are just amateurish snapshots. Some of the them are exposed incorrectly or blurry. I am appalled that these people are trying to pass this off as some kind of photography how-to book. There is a section in the back that contains some general information on photography, but it is very basic. I was not expecting a detailed technical treatise, but I did expect a book billing itself as containing "photo secrets" to contain pictures better than what I could take right now, and I expected some detail on how the shots were taken. This may be useful as a guide book, but nothing more.
Rating: 
Summary: Double Value--a Tour Guide & Photo Guide in One
Review: Filled with fabulous full color photos, and covering Northern California, from Big Sur to the Oregon border to the Nevada border, and, of course, San FRancisco, this book is both a tour guide and photography guide in one. The book is organized by region, and the San FRancisco section of the book is divided into the various neighborhoods. The book features its share of postcard shots, but goes beyond the "pretty picture in a tour book" to tell the reader HOW to acheve the same photograph.
Listed alongside each featured neighborhood or attraction is a lighting guide, with suggestions on angles, f-stops, shutter speeds and the best time of day to take the photographs. Also listed are admission prices (which may have changed, as the book was published in 1997) and phone numbers.
The book goes beyond San Francisco to cover areas such as Monterey, Silicon Valley, Wine COuntry, the coastline to the Oregon border and the Gold country. There is also a section on Yosemite, although Yosemite is discussed in its own book in the same series.
The one drawback is that the author does not spend much time discussing topics more advanced photographers might be interested in, such as using filters, backlighting or composition, but this is not enough to detract from the overall quality iof the book. The photographs found inside are inspiring and the tips to help recreate these photos take the photographer far beyond the standard vacation photos.
Overall, I highly reecommend this book for the travel photographer. I just wish the series could be expanded to include areas other than the United STates.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent guide for places to photograph in the bay area
Review: I am a 24 year resident of San Francisco but a beginning photographer. I wanted to find places to photograph and this book did an excellent job. Plenty of color photographs to help inspire you. It gives in good details how to get to the specific area to take the best photographs and the same one as shown in the book. This book guided me to places I have never been and even made brief suggestions as to things to do in the area. An excellent guide for the tourist and the residents of the bay area.
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: I am a resident of the Bay area. I am always having friends and family come visit. I send them this book with a few suggestions in it for them to pick out what they want to do. This book gives them a good desription of the tourist things to do. It also gives them a good picture so they know what they are choosing!
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: I am a resident of the Bay area. I am always having friends and family come visit. I send them this book with a few suggestions in it for them to pick out what they want to do. This book gives them a good desription of the tourist things to do. It also gives them a good picture so they know what they are choosing!
Rating: 
Summary: Serves the purpose - great investment!
Review: I LOVE SAN FRANCISCO. And I love photographing San Francisco. It is a beautiful city. However, if you don't actually live there and know the city like the back of your hand, you probably miss out on a lot of popular places where you can get great shots. This book tells you where to go, at what time of the day or night (to get the best shots), whether dawn/morning/noon/late afternoon or sunset time is best from a particular location, where to stand, what kinda lenses/exposures to use, et al. Great book for budding photographers and tourists. Worth every cent! BTW, the pictures are not all award-winning shots, but something you can go and take with your camera after reading the book.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome book!! A Must buy!
Review: I was able to take some of my best pictures in my first trip to San Fran & Yosemite. This is a great book! I wish all the travel guides were like this.
Rating:
Summary: Maximize your trip to Northern California
Review: I went to a conference in San Jose but wanted to go on some day trips to do the most scenic nature photography possible in a short amount of time. This book took me to fabulous spots everytime I took off. Yosemite NP is too big and sprawling to sort out in a few hours unless you use the photosecrets of this book. Also, I never would have found Muir Beach (not Muir Woods), the lighthouse at Monteray, and the elephant seals on the beach at Ano Nuevo State Reserve - 20 feet away from the 3 ton bulls and 5 day old pups! The book gives you the time of day for the best photography at each site and this helped immensely figure out when to go where and how to maximize my short amount of time at each location. The list of photosecrets in the back and the several tips on various pages are great little tips. The only thing you will need in addition is a detailed map to be sure you find your way on the small maps in the book itself.
Rating:
Summary: Maximize your trip to Northern California
Review: I went to a conference in San Jose but wanted to go on some day trips to do the most scenic nature photography possible in a short amount of time. This book took me to fabulous spots everytime I took off. Yosemite NP is too big and sprawling to sort out in a few hours unless you use the photosecrets of this book. Also, I never would have found Muir Beach (not Muir Woods), the lighthouse at Monteray, and the elephant seals on the beach at Ano Nuevo State Reserve - 20 feet away from the 3 ton bulls and 5 day old pups! The book gives you the time of day for the best photography at each site and this helped immensely figure out when to go where and how to maximize my short amount of time at each location. The list of photosecrets in the back and the several tips on various pages are great little tips. The only thing you will need in addition is a detailed map to be sure you find your way on the small maps in the book itself.
Rating:
Summary: GET THIS BOOK!
Review: If you enjoy photography and are planning a trip to Northern California (and Yosemite!) GET THIS BOOK! It is a MUST! I give it ten stars.
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